DIY Decoupage Spring Vases

Spring is sprung! Well, actually in Atlanta it is pretty much Summer already but in other parts of the country it is Spring or close to it. As the seasons change, in edition to fighting these crazy pollen counts, I like having new things in my environment. A perfectly timed challenge from Walmart to helped get my creative juices flowing and I decided to spruce things up by making decoupage vases. For the longest time I’ve heard about this technique and despite having Mod Podge in my home, I never used it. I am happy to report that the process is easy and provides wonderful results!

If you are not familiar, decoupage means to decorate objects with cutout pieces of paper. For my project, I purchased 2 glass vases ($.97) from the craft section at Walmart, 100 sheets of decorative paper ($4.00), Mod Podge ($3.49), Paint brushes ($3.00) and some newspaper. When I was doing research on decoupage, I saw a project that used newsprint and decided I wanted that as my background. I searched the various designs of paper I purchased and choose a butterfly theme. Butterflies are my favorite and represent rebirth, perfect for Spring!

To start I cut the newsprint to fit my vase. I brushed the vase with Mod Podge and then carefully applied the newsprint to the vase, avoiding as many wrinkles as possible. In my limited experience, wrinkles are part of the territory when doing decoupage, I assume my technique will get better the more I do it. 

I did read that wetting the paper before application helps to reduce wrinkles but I choose not to do that this time. I then coated the newsprint with more Mod Podge and let it dry. During the drying process I cut out the butterflies and border I wanted to use.

Next I applied the border, let it dry and then added the butterflies. I let everything dry and am extraordinarily pleased with the results. The only thing missing are flowers for my vases and I plan on purchasing some today!